Born in Cheam in Surrey to a solicitor, Morten trained as paying probationer nurse for three months between 11 September 1884 and 9 December 1884, under Matron Eva Luckes at The London Hospital.
In 1890, she and Mary Belcher founded the Nurses' Co-operation, which attempted to act as both a trade union and a co-operative guild.
From 1896, she lived at the Hoxton Settlement, and the following year was elected to represent the district on the London School Board.
[2][3] In 1905, Morten moved to Rotherfield in Sussex, where she founded Oakdene, a Tolstoyan settlement, which also served as a respite home for disabled children from London.
[2] Morten supported the women's suffrage campaign, in particular the tax resistance movement, as a result of which some of her property was seized and auctioned.